Peel District School Board Increases Facility Rental Fees Due To Provincial Funding Cuts

Published July 18, 2019 at 2:51 am

athletes-ball-basketball-945471

As most of us know, schools play an integral part of the community and are a convenient venue for recreational, group and corporate activities. However, according to the Peel District School Board, the provincial government’s recent cuts have spiked the prices to rent school spaces.

Many people are reporting that the fees to rent a school space have increased by around 130 to 300 per cent.

According to the Peel District School Board, they have provided permits for the community to use school spaces at a reduced rate by subsidizing operational and labour costs required for the permit for the past few years. However, they will not be able to subsidize fees due to funding cuts and increases in costs.

“Due to the reduced ministry funding for the 2019-20 school year and annual increases in labour and operational costs, we are no longer able to subsidize permit fees and have made the difficult decision to increase fees to cover the costs associated with the permit,” says the school board.

The school board also states that the fees have been aligned to be comparable or lower than permits at other school boards and municipalities in the Greater Toronto Area.

“It’s important to note that the Peel board does not profit from these community permits. The permit fee increase is necessary to cover permit operational and labour costs so that we can continue to provide programming to support student success and well-being in Peel schools,” further explains the school board.

The application permit fee is now $50. The school facility is rented at an hourly rate depending on the specific school area. For adults and places of worship, the rate is $57.44 for the auditorium, $25.86 for the cafeteria, $22.97 for the gym, $15.92 for the kitchen, $15.92 for the lecture hall, $24.48 for the outdoor space,$50 for the parking lot and $15.92 for the theatre. These rates differ for youth, seniors and corporations. For a complete list of the fees, click here.

Many people have taken to Twitter to share their thoughts about this dramatic hike in prices.

The Peel District School Board also requires all permit holders to have active insurance coverage in place before a group can access any of their schools.

The first day for permits during the 2019 – 2020 season will be September 9 and the last day will be June 7.

insauga's Editorial Standards and Policies advertising